Apple iOS 9 source code has indicated that Apple is working to introduce the advanced version of Wi-Fi, dubbed as Li-Fi, in future iPhones.

American technology major Apple Inc. is known to bring revolutionary devices to the market. The launch of iPhones dealt a major blow to smartphone pioneers Nokia and BlackBerry, which are still trying to recover.

Now, the Cupertino-based company seems to be working hard to stir up another storm in the phone industry, says a new report.

Even technology blog Apple Insider did an independent investigation and it was learnt that Apple is indeed planning to bring Li-Fi wireless technology to its devices.

What is Li-Fi?

Li-Fi (Light Fidelity), claimed to be invented by Harald Haas (Professor of Mobile Communications at the University of Edinburgh), is a bidirectional, high-speed OWC (Optical Wireless Communication) technology. It is said to be more advanced and more secured, compared to current wireless data transfer protocol Wi-Fi.

This technology utilises LED (Light Emitting Diodes) as a medium for two-way communication enabling secure and fast data transfer.

Pros:

Li-Fi is said to be 100 times faster and transfer more data at extreme speed compared to Wi-Fi as light travels faster that any wave (even radio waves in Wi-Fi) in the physical world. The researchers have been able to achieve 10gbps internet speed in lab. They also suggest that Li-Fi can even achieve an astronomical 224 gbps speed. That means, the users will be able to download 18 (1.5GB each) movies in just a second.

Though Li-Fi waves cannot travel through walls like Wi-Fi, it is way more secure than the former. Wi-Fi routers risk getting hacked, whereas the Li-Fi's bi-directional data transfer technology makes it nearly impossible for third party device to attack users' smart devices.

This bi-directional Li-Fi technology is said to revolutionise the IoT (Internet-of-Things), wherein people will be able to communicate to the Television, Refridgerators, Air Conditioners and other consumer electronics devices via smartphone faster and securely.

Cons:

Since Li-Fi uses LED lights, the room has to be lit up at all times. The researchers say this shortcoming has been fixed as they devised a bulb that can emit light waves invisible to human eye.

The use of light in Li-Fi brings another dilemma. If the user's laptop is connected to Li-Fi, he/she will get disconnected if they go out of the room as light cannot travel through opaque walls.

Yes, Li-Fi has a couple of disadvantages, but future research works in this technology can fix these shortcomings and will surely revolutionise the smart-device industry.

Going by the recent report, Apple will not be wasting much time to bring Li-Fi to its devices. But, it remains to be seen whether this feature will be introduced in the upcoming iPhone 7 series. Stay tuned for more updates.